Dufficulty breathing, (needing to take a deep breath more then often)

[marcc64]

I have been having difficulty breathing where i have to keep taking deep breaths, feels like my heart is racing at times, have some muscle twitching all over my body and my throat feels like it has something stuck in it, although the symptoms never seem as bad if iam not thinking about it sometimes even go completely, but when i do have these symptoms it drives me crazy, i am only 18 and its scaring the **** out of me, i went to the hospital and had an ECG done and the nurse said my heart was slightly beating to fast also had my BP done and he said it was slighlty high (but he said it might be because i was stressed about the test) he also checked my oxygen levels but they were fine, i also had a chest x ray and nothing was wrong with that, also had blood tests and they were also fine, i really don't know what is wrong with me, maybe its anxiety or depression. PLEASE HELP ITS DRIVING ME UP THE WALL, its also stopping me from going out my house to see my mates, it has also put me off eating, sometimes it scares me that much i think i am going to die. Following the trip to the hospital i went to the doctor, she took my BP and said it was fine, she never done any other tests on me because she said there was nothing wrong with me because i had the tests at the hospital and after telling her about why i might have anxiety she agreed and just sent me on my way :(  

[cj29]

I agree with silverberg on practicing breathing techniques.  They can really help.  Also, just to let you know, my BP is usually about 30-40 points higher when I arrive at a doctors office then when I leave...my doc actually takes it at the end of the appointment because he knows it is going to be high.  Just keep working through this!  

[silverberg]

Sounds like you are fine, the Nurse should know better to just say you have increase BP and HR, we all would if we could not catch our breath, this is NORMAL, (at the hospital), but i would suggest you practice breathing exercises at lease 3-4 times a day. DO THIS WHEN YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO CATCH your breath, this way at the first sign of this increased anxiety, you are ready to go! alot of good breathing exercises relating to panic on the net. I have 3 breathing exercises on my phone . listen to them regularly only takes 5 minutes. also really work on , not being so in tumed with your breathing, makes it worse , if you catch yourself doing this, try to redirect your mind somewhere else.

[marcc64]

Yes i am seeing another doc friday :) and asking about therapy, another thing i was going to say was the other day i took some valium which made a massive difference all my worry went away and my symptoms vanished :) i found this odd because normally i don't believe in meds lol but valium really did make me feel so much better :) is normal thing from valium?

[cj29]

I am sorry that you are having a hard time with anxiety right now.  Panic/anxiety, especially when it is related to your health can really throw you for a loop.  My original source of anxiety came from concerns with my heart.  I just knew the doctors were wrong and that they were mission something.  Years later, I am still here, which is a good thing:).

Anxiety can be both confusing and scary in my experience.  Do you have acccess to a therapist? (psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor, etc)  For me, understanding the cycle and the pattern of thinking that comes with health anxiety does wonder in accepting and confronting it.  Please feel free to keep on asking as many questions as you like and keep us posted!